An open letter to Denise Beauchaine, director of Lakes Region Public Access TV:

I know the value of Lakes Region Public Access Television. You, Bob Daniels, Dexter Hecita, the LRPA-TV board and others, were there responding to our local needs for publicity for non-profits — the Opechee Garden Club on many occasions, Multicultural Market Day for every year, Lakeport Community Association events like the grand opening of the Lakeport Freighthouse Museum, Laconia Heritage Commission seeking volunteers, Laconia Woman's Club fashion show, Laconia Historical & Museum Society programs for years and years, Lakes Region Scholarship Fund Spelling Bee and more and more.

I like that I can sit in my recliner and watch Laconia City Council meetings, Laconia School Board meetings, programs for seniors and on health. I can watch friends and acquaintances — Larry's quiet strokes with the paint brush, Esther's breathy, modulated voice interviewing our next presidents, Charlie and Jennifer and Charlie's on the road again trips stopping to talk to the cows in a pasture or a cop in New York City, Alan keeping us posted on social services and health, Dave swimming with the fishes.

I do enjoy the variety of interesting programs they offer. If I couldn't make it to the Putnam Fund performance, the Santa Fund or Gilford Old Home Days, I could catch it on my own television.

When I lived on Long Island, it was exciting to watch public access television grow on Channel 12. Before that, being in the shadows of a big city, it was difficult to be informed of local news or cover or post local events. Today there is News 12 reporting 24 hours a day on local news. This is what I found on their website: News 12 Long Island was the first of its kind when it launched in 1986, and today the News 12 Network is the largest and most watched regional news network in the country.

I regret that our local public access television is encountering such difficulty reaching the public and receiving the funding it needs to continue. I would miss seeing my locals in the comfort of my own home and I'm sure many others would . . . especially those that reign in their recliners.

You're earnest for continuing your work without pay. Such dedication! I hope you get the support you need to continue.

True leadership builds people up. It does not destroy the lives of others for an ideology or for a leader's sense of self importance. The current threat by certain members of the Belknap County Delegation, especially executive committee member Frank Tilton, to deny the transfer of funds for Belknap County workers and their collectively bargained health benefits is unconscionable.

As a resident of a neighboring county to Belknap I am concerned with the irresponsible choices of a few elected leaders and its effect on all citizens of New Hampshire. (I feel it is right) to defend the livelihood of Belknap County workers and the quality services they provide. We must honor the personal dignity and worth of those who dutifully care for, serve and protect the citizens of New Hampshire.

To The Daily Sun,State Senate District 2 candidate Carolyn Mello is the real deal if you are looking for a state senator who has lived a life of working on behalf of others.

Carolyn is a U.S. Air Force veteran where she served as a Russian linguist, stationed in both Turkey and the U.S.She has worked as a job developer with the differently-abled population so she understands the challenges faced by these individuals and their families.

Carolyn has benefited from equal opportunity advantages, hired as an employment counselor for a federal program thanks at least in part to being female and a veteran. So she understands the hurdles a tough job market poses.Carolyn has worked as a special ed teacher in the Newfound School District and represented teachers in contract negotiations. She knows how to approach tough subjects so that both sides can come to an understanding of the other's position and reach agreement.

Carolyn now serves on the Holderness School Board with an aim to ensuring all children have access to the best public education possible.

Carolyn Mello's campaign slogan is "People First" — which is not just a slogan to her! Please support Carolyn Mello for Senate District 2 on Nov. 4.

I recently met Sue, a waitress working three jobs to support her four children, at the Bristol Diner, home of my most favorite chicken pot pie.

I asked if she was registered to vote (since I'm a candidate for state representative from her district). "No," and she explained her hectic life. She would not want to vote unless she had the time to research the candidates. I praised her sincerity and empathized. I'd been a working single mom of three without child support for many years myself.

When I left, she thanked ... ME! Stunned, I asked why, and she simply said for understanding without creating a guilt trip.

Being an informed voter is particularly important in our district (Grafton, Alexandria, Bristol, Bridgewater and Ashland) because gone are the days when you could trust what a Democrat or a Republican stands for. This election, Hull and Olson are acknowledged Free State libertarians running for state office under false labels.

Thank YOU, Sue, for taking care that your vote is worthwhile. Please vote, because many gains such as Paycheck Fairness promoting equal pay for women are at stake.

You can find a sample ballot for your town at the Secretary of State's office: http://sos.nh.gov. There are recorded interviews and debates with candidates that you can stream anytime at http://nhpr.org/topic/elections-2014. And this paper plus others publish candidates' profiles prior to Election Day.

The Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam, states our president. The Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa are upset at the West because of social, political and economic dysfunction within their own society asserts most of the Democratic talking heads.

Former President Bill Clinton claimed that "these forces of reaction (al-Qaida) feed on disillusionment, poverty and despair." Bruce Thornton would like to ask the aforementioned leaders of our country the following: "Why is it that the billions of people around the globe who are even more impoverished and hopeless, have not created a multinational network of groups dedicated to inflicting brutal mayhem and violence on those who do not share their faith or would block their vision of global domination?"

Bruce goes on to affirm that we refuse to diagnose the problem properly so all the economic development and democratic nation building will never provide the answer to neutralize jihadism. Unfortunately, former President George Bush failed to understand that when he tried to develop a democracy in Iraq. Yes, the surge did stabilize Iraq and just might have kept the jihadists at bay in that region if not for President Obama's feeble and failed attempt at establishing a status of forces agreement, residual force in Iraq. The result was a destabilized region and a welcome mat for ISIS, provided by our Democrat president.

So-called experts of all political stripes have erroneously compared the global aspirations of the Muslim world to that of the Soviet Union's desire for world denomination. Bruce notes that Soviet Communism was a materialist, atheist ideology imposed by force on deeply religious people. It ultimately failed at both, neither delivering material prosperity nor successfully suppressing the religious needs of its citizens.

Despite the corrupt and dysfunctional Russian economy, Putin's autocracy enjoys strong support in part because he acknowledges that religious piety lies at the core of its national identity and separates them from the secular, godless West. Just let that maddening juxtaposition simmer on your consciousness for awhile.

We continue to face the slow erosion of our Judeo-Christian roots in the face of the growth of secular humanism, political correctness, and moral relativism which is leading to the destruction of the very moral fiber that has held this country together for so long.

The Communism vs. Islam analogy is flawed because the Muslim world is steeped in profound Islamic spirituality and the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Qatar and others embrace that. What Muslims see on worldwide media and hear at their Friday sermons in their mosques, regarding America and the West is as Bruce states, "a godless Sodom of materialism and depravity fostered by rootless individualism and irresponsible license camouflaged as prosperity and democratic freedom." That is what feeds this centuries-old conflict between Islam and all infidels. That is why they are able to commit such death and destruction with a clear conscience and why this "share hummus not hate" diplomacy nonsense may get more and more of us killed.

Though some of the Muslim nations seem more moderate than others and have disdain for some of the extreme violence, they all appear to agree on one theme. Bruce believes that theme is "spiritual solidarity, desire to live under Shari'a law and dreams of Islamic global dominance." I think he is dead-on right when he warns us that, "until we see jihadism as a spiritual rather than a material phenomenon, we will continue to pursue tactics and policies doomed to fail."

Kudos to the research and analysis of Bruce Thornton that is contained in much of this letter. Bruce is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Ctr and a Research Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He is also a professor of classics and humanities at California State University.